LAS VEGAS – The release of the EMC Unity mid-range line here at EMCWorld 2016 presents a new refresh opportunity for solution providers in Canada, says EMC Canada’s channel chief.
With the EMC Unity line, the EMC Canada channel team led by channel chief Michael Kerr has started working on amassing data on all VNX customers who are coming off lease, warranty or depreciation. That intelligence will be passed onto the channel partners in Canada.
Michael Kerr
Kerr told CDN that the new EMC Unity line of mid-range systems fits well with the skill set of solution providers Canada and arms them with more reasons to build on their expertise on managing and maintaining storage systems for their customers.
The all-flash EMC Unity is being positioned in the mid-range and has a starting price of $18,000.
But underneath that offering is a Hybrid Unity systems that starts at $10,000. And, this product has the potential to suit the Canadian market as it is predominantly made up of small to mid-size business.
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Kerr said there are more than 100,000 small businesses in Canada with 30 employees or less.
“If you look at the U.S. market the next largest vendor after EMC is other. Its all those miscellaneous vendors that are creeping up into Canada and selling it as a commodity and saying its good enough because of the price point, but the data management of the array in the Unity makes it a different solution than just a storage system,” Kerr said.
“This (Unity) is a true enterprise class solution for the SMB,” he added.
Kerr believes that small business customers in Canada would be willing to spend more on a solution such as Unity, but would not go to a higher end system costing $50,000.
For the channel the Unity line presents an opportunity to go after this large marketplace, while also presenting them with upsell options to VXRail, which is a more complete solution.
“We have to adjust our model with Unity because it is an easier consumable sell for the channel. We are working to put in the right incentives for the channel,” Kerr said.
At the EMCWorld 2016 conference a special launch promotion for solution providers was announced where EMC will be offering 10 per cent margins on any incremental deals on top of the 10 per cent a channel partner gets on registration. EMC will also give partners an additional 25 points on all flash deals for a total of 45 per cent margins.
“When it comes to solution providers; it’s not a matter of if I like you or if your product is revolutionary. It’s about money and most channel people can appreciate that. And, there is nothing quite like the shear pressure of meeting a payroll deadline,” Kerr said.